The Light in You
by foreverwriting9
Summary: She's always known he's a good man, can feel the truth of it aching through her bones, but there are times when even she is surprised by just how big hearted Jane can be. Episode tag to 'Carnelian, Inc'.


**In case you need a reminder: At the end of _Carnelian, Inc._, Jane makes a deal with the CEO of the company that the CBI will pursue lesser charges against him if Carnelian will finally pay the money owed to the Skelling family. The original amount owed was $50,000, but when the Skelling's get the check, it's actually for $500,000.**

* * *

She smiles when she finds out what he did.

Lee Skelling calls her, happiness bubbling up in his voice. "I just wanted to thank you, Agent Lisbon," he says, the excited voices of his family rising up behind him. "I don't know what you did to make it happen, but we sure are grateful."

Lisbon pauses in her typing, brow furrowing in confusion. "I'm sorry, I'm a little slow right now..."

"Oh, right, of course." He swallows a breath of air. "The money," he says, more slowly this time. "I don't know how you did it, but Faulk finally paid up. More than enough. We're going to be all right," he adds hoarsely, as though he can't quite believe it.

_Jane's deal with the CEO of Carnelian, Inc._ How could she have forgotten that? She leans back in her chair, smiling. "I'm afraid I can't take any credit for that. It was all Mr. Jane."

"Well, will you tell him we said thank you? All of us. This is...This is _huge_. Life changing."

Lisbon turns, glancing through the windows of her office out into the bullpen. Jane is perched on his couch, focused completely on the book of Sudoku puzzles in his lap. "I will most definitely tell him that," she says softly.

After Lee hangs up, she pushes herself back from her desk and wanders out into the bullpen. When she reaches Van Pelt's empty chair she stops, watching the extraordinary man across from her who just might be her partner. She's always known he's a good man, can feel the truth of it aching through her bones, but there are times when even she is surprised by just how big-hearted Jane can be. And it's in moments like these that she wishes-

"Hi Lisbon," he murmurs, not bothering to look up from his book.

A grin pulls at her mouth. "Lee Skelling just called," she says casually, walking over to stand directly in front of him, "to say thank you."

Jane makes a noncommittal sound and scribbles a few numbers down, his pencil scratching loudly across the paper. After a pause, he adds a nonchalant "Did he?"

"Mhmm." She waits expectantly in front of him, hands half stuck in her pockets. Eventually, she just can't hold it in any longer. "That was a really nice thing that you did."

He finally glances up. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Lisbon raises an eyebrow at him. "I think you do."

He shakes his head a little bit, gaze dropping from Lisbon's once again. Behind him, the sky is turning inky, shadows leaking through the window and tangling in his hair. He smoothes his fingers over the page in front of him. "It was nothing," he says.

She feels herself leaning forward, wanting to make him realize how important and wonderful his act of kindness really was. "It was everything to them."

When he looks up at her, there's something fragile and breathtaking sitting in his eyes. "Yeah?" he asks.

"Yeah," she says, and her smile returns, bright and lovely and _I will always save you, Jane_. He can't help but smile back when she looks like that. For one ridiculously short moment, they grin at each other like fools, and there is nothing else. No arguments or rules or Red John. Just them, and they are _happy_.

From the break room, someone coughs, and the moment snaps between them.

"I should-" Lisbon swallows around the words, pausing before she tries again. "I should go."

Jane nods. "Go home, dear. Get some rest."

She's halfway to Van Pelt's desk when she stops and turns back toward him. "Can I get you anything?" she asks almost shyly. "Some tea or a blanket or something?" She just wants to help him, to give him something that will make him feel a little less alone tonight.

"I'm good," he says, loving the concerned look on her face far more than he should.

"Okay," she says softly, turning back around and heading for her office. Once she's grabbed her bag and collected the necessary papers from her desk, she flicks off the light and shuts the door behind her. Jane is still sitting on his couch, closed Sudoku book balanced on his knee, watching her with a barely there smile. She gives him a little wave, and then moves to leave.

"Lisbon?" His voice stops her in her tracks.

"Yeah?" When she looks at him this time, his face is a mixture of things she doesn't understand.

His hands slide along his pants as he searches for the right words. "Thank you," he says eventually, into the still air.

She nods, feeling the words press themselves against her tongue. _That's what partners are for._ "Goodnight, Jane," she says instead, walking away from the bullpen. His soft response reaches her just as the elevator arrives and she steps between the parting doors.

"Goodnight, Lisbon."

XXX

When she walks into work the next day, he is sitting in front of her desk, waiting.

"Jane?" This is new. Normally, she doesn't enter her office only to find Jane surrounded by early morning sunlight and the smell of coffee. She doesn't think she really minds though. In fact - Her traitorous heart stutters. _She could get used to this_.

Jane smiles at her, and for a split second, Lisbon forgets that he can't actually read her mind. "Good morning, dear," he says, holding out a mug to her.

She puts her bag down next to her desk, peering at the offering. "What's this?" she asks unnecessarily.

He almost rolls his eyes. "Coffee, of course."

Before she even realizes what she's doing, she reaches forward and wraps her hand around the mug, fingers brushing along his. And then he's giving her that unreadable look again, and it sends her pulse pounding too loudly through her ears. Lisbon takes a quick sip of coffee to cover her reaction, wincing when it scalds the back of her throat. "What's the occasion?"

Jane frowns. "I need a reason to make a cup of coffee for my favorite CBI agent?"

Her answering expression says that yes, he most definitely does. Without waiting for his response, she sits down across from him, shuffling through some unfinished paperwork before glancing back up. Jane's mouth hangs open.

"I..." he starts, trailing off, and she's never seen him struggle with words like this.

She leans across her desk, brushing a few fingers along his arm. "Jane?" She's starting to worry now. What if he has some horrible news to impart? What if he's suddenly decided to leave the CBI? What if Red John made contact? Her mind tailspins into a hundred different possibilities and the coffee leaves a sour taste in her mouth.

Jane must see the utter terror on her face, because he quickly finds the right words again. "Oh, Lisbon, no. It's not-" He runs a hand through his hair. "It's nothing bad," he says. "It's a thank you."

"_Oh_," Lisbon breathes, wrapping her fingers tightly around the mug.

"For yesterday," he explains with a slight shrug. _For everything_.

A blush creeps its way across her cheeks, and she ducks her head. Yesterday was nothing. They're a team, a family. Taking care of each other is what they do. She swallows another sip of coffee, tasting the statement resting against her tongue. This time, she says it. "We're partners, Jane."

The sentence is warm and glittering and everything he's ever wanted.

"Yes," he says with a slow smile, "we are."

She's about to say something else (something about how partners will do anything for each other and how she's missed not having one for so long), when the door swings open, and Rigsby pokes his head into the room.

"Boss, we've got a case," he says. "Up in Red Bluff."

"All right," she sighs, gaze snagging on Jane's. He's watching her curiously, reading every syllable of what she almost said in her face. She tries to ignore it. "Take Cho and head on up. Jane and I will follow."

Rigsby nods. "Will do." His head disappears from the doorway. When Lisbon turns back to her desk, Jane's attention is still focused on her, and she suddenly finds it intensely annoying, irritation scratching up the back of her neck. Too quickly, she stands up, making the wheels of her chair screech in protest as they scrape across the floor.

"Let's go, Jane," she says, reaching for her jacket. In an instant, she hates the tone of her voice. Aggravated. Upset. Here they were just being partners, _friends_, and she's going to ruin it. She takes a deep breath. "C'mon," she amends, more gently this time, "we have a crime scene waiting."

He's already standing when she looks over at him, and he takes a step toward her, reaching out to press his hand against the small of her back. Without a word, he ushers her forward, moving to open the door for her. Because she's in front of him, Lisbon just misses his affectionate smile. "After you, partner."


End file.
